Mr. Basketball of Illinois 2013 | Simeon's Jabari Parker

It was private and motivational and locked in a small safe in his bedroom.

"It was all the things people were telling me at that time," Jabari Parker said. "People called me fat, slow. They said, 'He's not going to be good.' "

If "The List" helped inspire the Simeon senior to become the first two-time winner of the Mr. Basketball of Illinois award, "The Picture" embarrassed him.

It was public, Simeon's 2012-13 team photo, showing up in every program in all six states the Wolverines played in this season.

Taken in November, as he entered his fifth month of inactivity after fracturing a bone in his right foot last summer, Parker's smile was wide, his high-top fade was, well, high, and the protrusion in his midsection more than a little alarming.

"I hate that picture so much," Parker said. "You can see my gut."

Teammates razzed him. Kendall Pollard, the team comedian, would say, "Who is that guy? Who is (No.) 22?"

Parker, too, joked about the 35 pounds he gained, saying "muscle weighs more than fat," but he tried to make the picture disappear.

He didn't view it as a keepsake like the list or the copy of a newspaper article naming someone else player of the year that he pulled out in the locker room after Simeon won its fourth consecutive state championship March 16.

So when he started shedding the excess baggage, Parker requested the Wolverines pose for a new team picture. He was denied.

"I didn't want to have another team picture taken," Simeon coach Robert Smith said. "I wanted people to see how hard he worked to get in shape."

Parker did just that. And a year after becoming the first non-senior to win Mr. Basketball, Parker earned 315 points in a statewide vote of media and schools this season to narrowly top Young's Jahlil Okafor (277) for the award, which is sponsored by the Chicago Tribune in conjunction with the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.

Because of the fame he acquired by going three-for-three in the state tournament and being touted as "The Best High School Basketball Player Since LeBron James," on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Parker might have won the vote even if the injury kept him out for much of the season.

The 6-foot-8 Duke recruit was supposed to be sidelined for the first couple of weeks at least, but he talked his way onto the court without going through a single practice with his teammates.

In his mind he was still the No. 1-ranked player in the country — a title he was stripped of due to the injury — but he played like the guy in the team picture.

Parker literally fell on his face at one point during the season-opener, when his mind told his body to make a move for which it wasn't ready.

In the second game, televised nationally by ESPN, he committed five traveling violations and scored five points during a 67-57 loss to DeSoto and Parker's future college teammate, Matt Jones, in Texas.

"I was like, 'Man, this is tough,' " he said. " 'I suck right now.' "

He wondered if, not when, he would return to normal.

"He said to me, 'Dad, do I still have it?' " said Sonny Parker, a former NBA player. "I told him it is like riding a bicycle. He was idle for five months, had no conditioning, then went straight to a game.

"He's got so much talent, it was just a matter of getting his timing back and getting in shape. The treadmill and the bicycle is one thing. To really get your wind back, you have to run up and down the court."

Weight watcher

The weight came off quickly. In a matter of weeks rather than months, Parker could gaze at the team picture without opening old wounds.

He looked like himself again, but throughout January and much of February, his performance was uneven.

Parker repeatedly denied the existence of added pressure due to his reputation, but a couple of weeks after becoming the second player in state history for start on four state championship teams, he finally admitted it was there.

"I put a lot more pressure on myself than other people put on me," Parker said. "I really wasn't understanding that I wasn't the same guy I was at the end of last season. The mental part was way harder than the physical. Having patience, knowing I'm not there yet, was difficult."

Though he won the equivalent of the MVP at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament for a record third time, he felt Pollard was Simeon's best player at the time and that Curie's Alexander deserved the award.

"That was kind of a strange position to be in," he said. "I was happy that we won, and the MVP usually goes to someone on the winning team, but I don't want anybody to hand anything to me."

He seemed to turn a corner by scoring 28 points in an 81-68 victory over nationally renowned Oak Hill (Va.) on Jan. 21 in Springfield, Mass., but struggled against Young later that week and made just 4 of 17 shot attempts during a 54-53 overtime loss to Morgan Park in a Public League semifinal Feb. 13.

That was the turning point.

More memories made

Despite Parker's height, his father schooled him in the fundamentals rather than pigeon-holing him as a post player.

His ball-handling, passing and shooting are all well above average for a player his size, and his biggest strength is the versatility that figures to create mismatches for as long as his career lasts.

Parker's future likely is on the perimeter, but Smith decided his present would be closer to the basket.

"He needed to get his confidence back," Smith said. "To me, he can probably be one of the best post players in the state. He can do so many things that he can get caught up in doing other stuff. We talked to him. We told him we know what kind of player you are and what we need you to do for us to win."

Unable to take a new team picture, Parker instead changed the picture of the team.

He thrived in the post, and his shot started dropping more often on his less frequent forays into 3-point land.

For the first time all season, Simeon was playing as a team and not a collection of stars. Rather than taking the first open shot, the focus was on getting Parker the ball near the basket.

The 35 pounds were gone, and he was as explosive as ever while leading Simeon in scoring in all seven postseason games, and rebounding in five.

"I am way better now than last year," Parker said. "I'm doing stuff I couldn't do last year, especially in the air. My hang time is good. I feel real good."

Before averaging 20 points and 11.5 rebounds in the Wolverines' two victories in Peoria, he put up 29 points and 13 rebounds to Mr. Basketball runner-up Okafor's 13 and five in Simeon's 69-51 victory over city champion Young in a sectional final.

Parker might have won the vote anyway, but that probably clinched it.

"It means a whole lot to me because my team needed it to win," Parker said. "I never looked at it as, 'I've got to win this award.' The only way we were going to win against Young was if I came up big, especially against that guy (Okafor). He's so big and so good.

"This is big-time for me. It's not easy to do things that people are going to remember you by, and I wanted to do that. I'm so grateful for the high school career I had."